Unit 9 Creative product promotion
P1 Describe the promotional mix used by two selected organisations for a selected
product/service.
British Airways and Starbucks
What is the promotional mix?
Promotional mix is a set of different marketing approaches which marketers develop to
optimize promotional efforts and reach a broader audience. Marketer’s task is to find the
right promotion mix for a particular brand. A promotional mix is described as a smaller part of
the larger marketing mix, all components of the promotion mix come underneath the
promotion sector within the marketing mix. The components include; personal selling, direct
marketing, public relations, sales promotions and advertising. The promotion mix is
important because it improves the effectiveness of promotion campaigns, when the
campaigns for products, services and other items are impacted by the findings from the right
promotional mix, it can produce increased results like rises in sales performance for that
particular good/service. It talks about the blend of promotional tools used by organizations to
create, maintain and increase the demand for certain products and services being supplied.
This heavily involves aspects from the marketing mix as well, they are alike in that they are
both marketing strategies and techniques for businesses like British Airways and Starbucks
to utilize to exceed projected sales from their variety of produce. Some of the advantages of
using the promotional mix to benefit sales generation are; helps segment the audience,
improves communication with customers and outlining advertisements from the competition.
Firstly, to construct a thorough promotional mix for the product/service the company needs
to identify the appropriate audience to fixate communications towards. The potential reach of
people may include various groups of individuals that may share a common hobby, lifestyle,
height, weight, age, sexuality and more. These variations all need diverse approaches with
the aim of attracting a larger collection of customers, this is applicable if the chosen business
can identify the common needs that each demographic demands when relating to the
products/services the organization provides. Next, companies like BA and Starbucks
develop the promotional mix to contact their clients and speak the language of the
customers, by exploring this the organizations can truly begin to acknowledge what
requirements the customers are searching for when locating the right business to purchase
from. This standard process assists to build relationships and loyalties between customer
and business, implicating that this proceeding will forge retained consumers. An example of
this is personalized email communications, it supports achieving the fundamental goals by
replying to people’s actions immediately. Lastly, people in this period of time are constantly
bombarded with advertisements on all forms of social media and on the internet. With a
promotion mix created it becomes very accessible to diversify the companies advertisements
and stand out from competition threatening the business. Quality of the promotional content
is more appreciated than quantity so successful establishments like BA and Starbucks will
perfectly orchestrate promoting their products/services at the right place and right time.
These larger companies most likely have a professional team validating all these aspects to
ensure precise deliverance of promotions becomes inevitable.
,British Airways and Starbucks
Personal selling
This approach provides a customized experience for the customers, the salesman will
interact with the consumers directly by visiting them. This technique is a methodology to
understand the standard requirements that the market desires/needs. The objective and aim
of this element is to influence the customer purchase of subsequent products/services from
the brand. Advertisement strategies need to be considered to increase the chance that the
promotional documentation becomes influential and successful. One of these strategies
includes the ‘pull strategy’, meaning that the organization is attempting to gain the attention
of the consumers with good techniques like flashy writing, huge discounts and other
beneficiaries. This is usually the costliest tool but is one of the most effective tools in the
promotional mix. It is effective since it builds a long-term relationship between the client and
employee that will continue coming back. This is of great benefit especially when dealing
with clients that spend large amounts of cash.
This involves British Airways using the recruitment of temporary staff in some cases to
approach potential customers and talk to them about the services and products that British
Airways offers. These are otherwise known as salespeople; in some holiday outlets/travel
agents these salespeople will provide a customized experience to the customers about what
BA has to provide for their consumers. Personal selling is a one-on-one personal interaction
between a customer and salesperson. Starbucks personal selling is witnessed with their
baristas. Customers may come to their stores unsure of what to order and what they may
like. The baristas can make suggestions based on the feedback from the customers. Also,
the barristers may offer samples of the products to entice the customer to try purchase or if
the product is newly released.
Direct marketing
Direct marketing uses technology to target clients individually. Examples include telephone
calls, apps, e-mail, and catalogues. Direct marketing is useful since it targets individuals that
spend small amounts of money at different times since they do not spend as much cash as
frequently. Different companies use email to send out specials and deals to clients. Using
direct marketing allows a company to target specific groups of customers with tailored
messages. By taking the time to research and identify the customers who are most likely to
need or want your products and services, you can focus your marketing efforts where they
have the highest chance of achieving results.
Email marketing is the platform that British Airways have adopted, because they are an e-
commerce brand they must select an appropriate method of distribution in order for them to
communicate their sales opportunities to the consumers. They focus on promoting the
services like flights and hotel stay abroad at a discounted price to influence more consumer
purchases. Email marketing is a good form to perform this task as a bulk amount of
promotions can be sent out to all customers one time for a low cost. This most likely has
stimulated a growth in sales revenue because promotions have been distributed on a highly
active channel that customers use daily. Starbucks also uses email marketing to distribute
communications entailing discounts, new product launches and information that may benefit
the customers. Starbucks also has their own app that customers can use to read about the
, ingredients of products, view the extensive menu and collect points on the app (which is part
of their loyalty card scheme).
Public relations
The marketers try to build a favourable image in the market by creating relations with the
general public. The companies carry out several public relations campaigns with the
objective to have the support of all the people associated with it either directly or indirectly.
The public comprises the customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, shareholders,
government and the society as a whole. It is vital for the business to create loyalties and
relationships with the market in order for them to contribute to the success and growth of the
company. They can assist by offering desirable and essential needs for the business to give
the consumers. It will highlight a bond, which means they care more about the connection a
business has with the market than just focusing on continuing a business to consumer
relationship. It involves a number of interactions, such as contacting, inviting, informing,
clarifying, responding, interpreting, dealing, transacting, and so forth with the most critical
stakeholders of the business.
British Airways are able to carry out stakeholder summits/focus groups which collaboratively
bring forth all types of key brand movement to one space to discuss future developments.
Incorporating the customers can be considered the most critical group to count as part of the
decision making process because they are the sources of income for the brand. Listening to
the voices of the general public will establish a relationship between both BA and
stakeholders and will assist in enhancing future plans to make them beneficial for both
business and public. Starbucks PR team engaged with people to talk about different
controversial topics a long time ago. It was an original way to demonstrate the company’s
involvement in urgent social issues. At first, there were discussions about gun control and
gay marriage. As these campaigns proved to be successful, the company’s PR team
decided to stick to the line further. So, the next step was to initiate debates about race, they
went as far as writing ‘Race together’ on the cups of the coffee to show aid for this sensitive
topic. The discussions about race caused a wave of criticism. There were comments that
stated the distress this caused and how Starbucks should not have raised this issue
because Race relations are an aggressive topic. This potentially was a step too far for